Arian Silver positive despite half year loss

Arian Silver, a silver exploration and production company, reported a consolidated pre-tax loss of $9.9m, including a non-cash employee share options expense of $8.0m, for the six months ended 30 June 2011. Despite this the group saw its share price rise on a back of a stronger second quarter which showed a gross profit for the company's San Jose mining and milling operation.The company's chief executive officer Jim Williams said: "We continue to fine tune our operations with a view to significantly improving on this. Our balance sheet remains strong and we continue to have no debt."The company's working capital was $9.1m, aided by a small rise in the interest income from cash resources, up $20,000 from $4,000 the previous year. The company currently has cash and cash equivalent worth $7.2m, down $1.1m from the previous year. The second quarter production at the San Jose mine was 22,387 tonnes mined, 18,348 tonnes milled, with 144 concentrate tonnes produced and 59,568 silver ounces produced. The share price was up 6.25% to 29.75p at 13:14. NR